City Council candidates participate in first forum

Denton
City Council candidates differentiated themselves on a couple of key topics
during the first forum of the season, conducted this week by the Denia Area
Community Group.

Former
City Council member Linnie McAdams served as moderator Monday night, rounding
up questions from the audience that ranged from topics in the headlines to
those bandied about the water cooler. The candidates’ answers in both types of
topics allowed some of the sharpest differences to emerge among them.

A
proposed convention center and hotel has grabbed local headlines for more than
a year, with a developer negotiating for a public-private partnership that
would bring the city a full-service hotel along with space to lure much larger
gatherings. The current talks between the city and the developer, O’Reilly
Hospitality Management, brought many and varied responses from the candidates.
But another question — focused on the current council’s frequent unanimous
votes — also elicited a wide range of answers.

Except
for Travis Trawick, a candidate for District 2, all the candidates attended the
two-hour event that included chicken sandwiches, deviled eggs and other
refreshments celebrating the city’s new ordinance that allows residents to keep
chickens in their backyard under certain conditions.

Incumbents
Dalton Gregory and Jim Engelbrecht are both running for their third and final
terms in District 2 and District 3, respectively. In addition to Trawick,
Gregory also faces a challenge from Al Sanchez. Engelbrecht also has two
challengers — Brendan Carroll and Griffen Rice. Joey Hawkins and Phil Kregel
have squared off to replace Chris Watts in District 4.

On
the residents’ questions about the convention center, Gregory underscored that
the city wouldn’t be paying for the hotel, a common misconception in the
community, only the convention center. He said he believed the talks should
continue and could endorse the project as long as he was “convinced that the
taxpayers are protected.”

But
Sanchez underscored that the developer’s proposal to the city to build the
project was unsolicited. To him, that signaled the city probably shouldn’t get
involved with such a public-private partnership. However, he said, “we should
take it to the public; either they want it or they don’t.”

Engelbrecht
underscored that the city built, and outgrew, the Civic Center and it is
appropriate for cities to be involved in such projects.

“The
devil is in the details,” Engelbrecht said, adding that the council could still
send the issue to the voters.

Carroll
told the audience that the facility was on the council’s wish list for 18
years, but couldn’t find evidence of a substantial public discussion about it prior
to 2008.

“I
don’t think the city needs to take your money and apply it to this,” Carroll
said.

Rice
predicted that if the public-private partnership for the convention center deal
did go before the voters, the proposition would fail.

“Our
town is too small for a project this size,” Rice said. “The funds can go to
other projects, like roads.”

Hawkins
called the project visionary, given Denton’s population growth. He said the
proposal has its positives, and the business plan has worked in other cities and
would allow Denton to lure convention business it has been losing.

But
he agreed that residents should vote on the matter.

Kregel
called the project “foolish” and said the city shouldn’t be trying to compete
with Grapevine, Frisco and other midsize cities that are easier to get to from
Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport.

“It’s
been on the wish list for 18 years because the community doesn’t want it,”
Kregel said.

To
the council’s frequent unanimous votes, the challengers and newcomers
positioned themselves as being willing to run counter to popular thinking on an
issue or idea.

Rice
said he wouldn’t have a problem being the lone voter, especially if he’s
consulted the District 3 constituents and goes with what they want. Hawkins
said he valued his sleep at night, and feels that if he’s as informed as
possible, he will be able to vote his conscience.

Kregel
said the many 7-0 votes “really gets my gears” and he would be proud to be the
only one voting “no,” if needed. Sanchez said being open-minded and educated
was key. He’d prefer to persuade the others if he could, but being the lone
vote was OK, too.

Carroll
said that challenging the current, popular thinking on an issue wasn’t a
negative thing. “It’s from challenges that we come up with good ideas,” he
said.

But
Gregory said he works hard to listen to all sides to move an issue forward. He
also studies his fellow council members and knows the votes aren’t always
there. For example, he cited a desire for a stronger smoking ban than the one
the city recently adopted.

Engelbrecht
echoed that, saying a lot of work and interaction is behind many of the
council’s 7-0 votes. “Unlike at the national level, we try to compromise,”
Engelbrecht said.

Residents
also posed questions about the city’s philosophical shift in how it finances
some long-term debt, the number of closed City Council meetings, Denton’s
population growth, regulating natural gas production inside the city limits,
the bike and pedestrian plan, the smoking ban, food insecurity and the
homeless. The differentiation in the candidates’ answers to these questions was
less sharply drawn, with challengers admitting on some occasions that they
didn’t know enough about the city’s inner workings to answer the question
fully.

“They’re
going to need a lot more education,” said David Zoltner, a former candidate,
after the forum.

About
30 residents attended the forum, including several other former candidates for
City Council. Current District 4 council member Chris Watts also attended
Monday night’s forum. Because of term limits, he is ineligible to run for a
fourth term. He does not plan on endorsing a candidate to succeed him, he said.

The
next scheduled forum will be conducted by the Denton Firefighters Association
at 7 p.m. April 15 in the community room at the Central Fire Station.

Karen
DeVinney of the Denton Neighborhood Alliance said Monday that her group is
planning its forum for April 19. Representatives of the local chapters of the
NAACP and the League of Women Voters have not yet announced forum dates.

The
election is May 11. The last day to register to vote is Thursday, April 11.
Early voting begins April 29.

PEGGY HEINKEL-WOLFE can be reached at and via Twitter
@phwolfeDRC.

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